Chapter 303: Evolution
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Imperial palace, Qi Country.
After the death of the late emperor, the Third Prince emerged from intense rivalry and was succeeding the throne in the wake.
Inside the palace, there was a hint of bloodiness and officials of all ranks shivered in uneasiness. This was especially so for those who were originally from Taihe Hall, as the hall's servants and maids, alongside their in-charge, Senior Eunuch Su, were put to death. Thus, rumours were rife.
"No matter what… I have finally won this time!"
Originally the Third Prince, he now ascended the throne and became the Emperor of Qi. Donned in his royal crown with his hand wielding a pearl ornament, he looked at his officials worshipping below. Though he appeared calm on the outside, he was extremely perturbed on the inside.
"Majority of the guards of the imperial palace and the troops of the imperial city have already submitted to me, the situation should be stable for me now. Since the Seventh Prince and those loyal to him seems unwilling and grudging, I better severely punish them! Hmm, since they did not show up during this ceremony, it would be the best excuse to do so!" he thought.
Unfilial acts and disloyalty were sins he could not tolerate.
The new emperor took a glimpse of the late emperor in his dragon casket. Its ashen face and ghastly stiff palm sent a chill down the emperor's face. Immediately, he turned around and prayed silently. "Father…, I knew you have always favoured the Seventh Prince, but since I succeeded the throne, I will definitely lead Da Qi to power and riches. I will also unite the three countries in this unprecedented rulership! Also, the imperial astronomer told me just now that the north star, Polaris, shined extremely brightly. This is a sign that I am going to be a great emperor!"
"Our Majesty!"
At that moment, all the officials kowtowed nine times and completed the ceremony.
"Ah, rise!"
As the Emperor of Qi strutted, he suddenly asked, "Where is the Seventh Prince and the Ninth Prince? Our father passed away and they dare not arrive yet? It pains my heart!"
"Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince was punished to reflect in isolation while the Ninth Prince is still on his journey, he is currently near the borders now." a senior minister reported.
"Hehe…. such great excuses, are they questioning my abilities?"
The Emperor of Qi gave a sardonic smile and immediately ordered, "These two treacherous princes violated the virtue of filial piety, even though I could not bear to hurt our relationship as brothers, I have no other choice now. Immediately send the guards to bring these two over to the wake! I will have to question them thoroughly!"
As an elder brother, he could not order violence against his younger brothers, but however, as long as he could arrest and enact soft detention on them, he could have his ways with them.
A few imperial guards heeded the orders and dashed out only to stop suddenly.
"Bang!"
Under the loud noises, the ground tremored and violent bawls could be heard. Not far from the gates, fires could be seen and black smoke rose into the air, bringing a sense of inauspiciousness.
"What's happening?"
As the commotion was so huge, it could even be heard from Jinluan Hall. The Qi Emperor's expression changed at once.
An imperial guard immediately reported, "Your Majesty, the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince are leading a troop in and they claim that they want to eradicate the emperor's disloyal followers! The eastern gate has already surrendered and they are storming towards the imperial palace now!"
"What?"
The Emperor of Qi felt ill at once and almost vomited blood.
Naturally, there were elite troops and royal guards garrisoned around Qi Country's imperial capital.
The late emperor favoured the Seventh Prince and the Ninth Prince heavily and assigned them to numerous posts, hence they managed to attract many henchmen under them.
The Third Prince's power was honestly much weaker than theirs. It was unexpected for him to succeed the throne and the reason why he could was due to the fact that he bribed the late emperor's loyal follower. It was truly a very risky move.
He did not expect the other two princes to be so resolute and decisive that they dared to led troops to revolt, and not to mention, influence the guards at the eastern gates to surrender their defences and side with them.
"The Seventh Prince decrees, this military advance will not harm the innocent!"
"The Ninth Prince decrees, however, those who did bad deeds and committed offences will be prosecuted by military law!"
...
The troop marched over with almost no resistance and surrounded the imperial palace.
The Emperor of Qi's face turned pale. He forced himself up the palace walls and saw the sea of troops below. His legs turned soft and he immediately ordered, "Traitors! Zhang Jin, kill them all for me!"
At that moment, the imperial guard could only reluctantly obey his commands to protect the imperial palace.
However, the Emperor of Qi was still deeply unsettled.
He knew that even if he were to win today, a revolt that occurred immediately once he ascended the throne would severely impact his prestige and might. Furthermore, his followers had already become anxious and terrified; they were bound to not last for long.
"All to listen up, the reason for this uprising is to seek justice for the mysterious death of our late emperor. As his sons and ministers, we have to seek justice!"
A deafening sound could be heard, it was as though spells were used.
All the officials could not help but keep quiet. The actions of the two princes were no different to accusing the Third Prince of poisoning the late emperor and distorting the imperial edict.
"I succeeded the throne justly and honourably. The imperial edict left by the late emperor before his death serves as evidence! How dare they besmirch me!" the Emperor of Qi hollered with extreme wrath.
"If you don't surrender in half an hour, we will not hesitate to storm in!"
However, the two princes outside had reached their point of no return. Even if the imperial edict was real, it had to be denounced as fake. Hence, after a few shouts, they immediately commanded their troops to attack.
"Charge!"
"Launch the catapult!"
"Prepare the scaling ladder!"
In an instant, the magnificent imperial palace became a bloody battlefield.
Blood spewed as smoke rose.
Fear spread through the commoners in the imperial capital as they quickly shut their doors. Even though the imperial capital of Qi Country was an ancient city with thousands of years of history, it ultimately could not withstand the destruction of war.
The defences of the imperial palace were penetrated through within half a day and the troops swarmed it.
The Third Prince was dishevelled, he had a longsword wielded while his robe was stained with blood. At that moment, he was searching through each palace hall in panic, "Beauties…, my beauties, quick, leave with me! I am still the emperor, even if we escape out of the capital, I can still gather all my loyal ministers to fight back!"
As he barged into one of the palaces, he scared away many of the servants. However, inside the hall, the melodious sound of a guqin[1] surrounded the entire hall.
The person playing the guqin was an absolutely gorgeous lady. She was donned in a concubine's dress and appeared elegantly prim and proper.
"Qing'er, quick, leave with me!"
The Third Prince's eyes filled with lust; he used to love listening to Qing'er play the guqin as he casually relaxed.
However, ever since he began crafting his big plans, he never heard the melodious guqin music again.
"Why should I leave?"
Qing'er smiled gently.
"Eh?"
The Third Prince was startled and he felt as though she had totally changed.
"Sun Xingyu, I've played with you for so long, I'm already bored of you, time to change to another prince to play with…" Qing'er said calmly.
"What? You want to side with the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince? You sl*t!"
The Third Prince was enraged upon grasping what she meant.
"I want to kill you!"
With bloodshot eyes, he charged forward with his sword.
"Boring!"
Qing'er yawned. Suddenly, a black shadow appeared and bit off the Third Prince's hand.
"Ahh...demon!"
The black shadow was actually a horrifying looking gigantic rat with eyes as large as copper coins and it emitted a green glow.
"Indeed, it's my fellow demon!"
Qing'er sighed faintly, "After scheming for ten plus years, the plan has finally succeeded. Even though you are the emperor, you have no power and the current situation is against you! How much fate energy would you have left by now? Just die in peace…., don't worry, your brothers will join you soon!"
Although she spoke calmly and expressionlessly, the Third Prince was horror-stricken, "How dare you demons try to ruin the Da Qi Country!"
As long as either the Seventh Prince or the Ninth Prince succeeded the throne, the throne would still be in the hands of the Sun's. But now, the Emperor of Qi had smelled a rat and knew a grand conspiracy was underway.
"Hehe…, after today, the news of the two princes revolting and causing the death of the emperor would spread throughout the world…"
Qing'er seemed to enjoy such a situation and even as the noise of the battlefield outside got closer, she placidly expressed, "After the event unfolds, Da Qi's sovereignty would drop and be severely undermined, war will erupt and who knows how many more people will be killed! The more deaths there would be, the happier I am!"
"De...demon!"
The Emperor of Qi was incensed and the rat demon sank its teeth into his throat.
"Bang!"
Lightning and thunder struck the skies and the giant rat let out a loud shriek. Its body turned black while Qing'er's face turned pale and even retched up a mouthful of blood.
"He was clearly on his deathbed, how could he still have such fate energy protecting him? People dao's fate energy is truly remarkable! Looks like this reflects their uprising…"
Her face turned solemn, she then stood up and toppled the oil lamp.
Fire engulfed the entire palace hall in an instance as black smoke billowed.
In one night, the news of the two princes revolting and attacking the imperial palace causing the death of Da Qi's new emperor spread throughout the world. Immediately, war broke out and the entire Qi Country descended into chaos.
Similar to its situation was its neighbouring country, Da Liang.
Yutong Prefecture.
Alongside the din of battle, huge amounts of troops entered the city and started killing mercilessly.
After besieging the city for months, they suffered great losses as they were unable to successfully breakthrough, hence, they finally vented their anger through slaughtering.
Outside the city, a ferocious looking general was surveying the scene in the city, his aide then respectfully congratulated, "Congratulations, General Huo, for annihilating this rebel town!"
"Send my command, massacre the entire city!"
General Huo gave a wry smile and immediately commanded, "Anyway, this city is the hub of the Wu rebels. Its commoners greatly benefitted from them and hence, they might not be loyal! It will be better for us to wipe them out!"
With his commands, the troops were roused. However, the officials at his side remained silent.
General Huo was talented in leading troops and wars, however, he was vicious and bloodthirsty.
He was sent to annihilate the rebels and their town, and with this success, it was a great achievement under his belt. However, it seemed like the way he did things was a bit overboard.
Of course, since he had the support to back his behaviour, no one dared to do anything about him.
Few brave and just souls dared to confront him just for the lives of commoners.
At that moment, Huo Qing's eyes turned blood red. As he listened to the unending screams coming from the city, he almost could not suppress his true form and thought, "Us demons would not only ruin the three countries' fate energy, we will not let any heroes emerge from the human race. The military governor of this town was an all-rounder and was also home to dragon energy which I have finally destroyed…"
[1] The guqin is a Chinese musical instrument.